


家 (jiā)

by moonfleur



Category: NCT (Band), WAYV
Genre: Canon Compliant, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Feels, Fluff, Idols, M/M, but not really, kinda angsty, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22571551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfleur/pseuds/moonfleur
Summary: “Missed you,” is all he says and Kun smiles, all knowing and more than a little fond. Ten sighs, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to control the shaking in his voice. “Miss you all actually.”
Relationships: Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun
Comments: 15
Kudos: 230
Collections: WIP OLYMPICS: WINTER 2019/20





	家 (jiā)

**Author's Note:**

> so this happened instead of me writing for the wips i actually need to submit, all because of [this post](https://www.instagram.com/p/B8IrZgjlyFc/), which really had me in my feels T_T  
> BUT i hope you like it anyway :)  
> title means _home_ in chinese

Ten sighs for what must be the hundredth time in the last ten minutes, fingers hovering over the screen of his phone as he watches the video Yang Yang posted on Lysn one more time. Something in his chest twists and he can’t decide if he wants to hit replay or chuck his phone across the room. 

He settles for closing the app instead, but he isn’t fast enough, his phone vibrates and Ten immediately clicks into the new notification from Lysn without thinking. It’s too much this time though, too much because this time it’s Kun with his own version of a dial tone cover and of course it would be to Moonwalk. He hesitates for a split second before he taps the triangle in the hope of giving himself one last out. But Ten is a fool, and a sucker for punishment, so he follows through. A distorted, slightly off-pitch version of Moonwalk blares through the phone’s speakers, echoing in the empty darkness of the hotel room and for Ten it's the last straw. 

He closes the app and opens his messenger one, tapping almost instinctively into the chat right at the top. It opens onto a selfie of Kun, captioned very much like the one he’d posted on Lysn but different in that he no longer had his makeup - or a shirt for that matter - on, and was tucked comfortably into familiar sheets. Ten smiles despite the clenching of his chest and the tears that threaten to fall, and presses the little video icon at the top. 

The jingle barely has time to finish before the call is being answered and the same boy from the selfie is now smiling back at Ten through his phone screen. 

“Ten.”

“Kun,” he breathes, almost chokes but he catches himself at the last moment and swallows it back down. 

“Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” The question, so very much Kun, causes a laugh to bubble out of Ten despite how close he is to sobbing. In the back of his mind, Ten wonders if he’s crazy having to fight the urge to both laugh and cry but once again he chalks it up to Kun. Kun, being the only person in the world who can make him laugh and cry, fly and fall. 

“Missed you,” is all he says and Kun smiles, all knowing and more than a little fond. Ten sighs, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to control the shaking in his voice. “Miss you all actually.”

“We miss you too,  _ baobei _ ,” Kun answers, gentle, his tone the equivalent of a hand brushing through this hair. 

“Don’t lie, you’re all having fun without me, I’ve been on Lysn, I’ve seen everything.” Ten is pouting and he knows it but he no longer cares, the ache in his chest too much to contain anymore.

Kun snorts, looking thoroughly endeared. “They’re all restless without you here. I don’t think I’ve seen Yangyang this hyper since we were trainees, it’s like he no longer knows what to do with himself.” 

“Is he bouncing off the walls yet?” Ten laughs, feeling lighter already than he’d been just moments ago. “Because if he isn’t then you’ve still got time.”

Kun tuts, and Ten can see him getting up from where he’d been seated on the sofa. “You‘ve spoilt him way too much, Ten. He keeps begging me to let him use my Instagram, you know?”

“Ah,” Ten sighs, leaning back against the wall of the hotel room’s window seat, the lights of the city glittering up at him from beyond the glass. “I’ve taught him well then.”

“You’re insufferable,” Kun huffs, and Ten can see him making his way through their dorm back in Korea until he stops in front of a door. He knocks once before shouldering his way in without waiting for an answer. Ten’s lips curve into a smile at that show of nonchalance that is just so  _ them _ , because personal boundaries ceased to exist for them a long time ago. 

“You love me,” Ten murmurs, as soft as he can because he knows that they now have an audience. The resounding chorus of “Ew gross” and “Get a room!” tells Ten that he wasn’t soft enough so he tosses that idea to the wind and yells back the only thing he knows that will work — “That’s it, I’m tossing your presents into the trash!” 

Ten sees Kun rolls his eyes and manages a quick wink before the phone is snatched out of his hand and suddenly Ten is staring into dark eyes under a mop of shaggy brown hair. 

“Tennie!” Yangyang yells, slightly breathless. “How are you? Did you miss me? I bet you missed me. That’s why you called, isn't it?” 

“Woah, slow down there. How much coffee have you had today, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this  _ wired _ !”

The phone is taken away again and dark hair swims into view before materialising into a disgruntled-looking Hendery. “He was hanging out with Jaemin today, you know how much he drinks.”

“Jeez,” Ten shakes his head, frowning dramatically. “You see, this is what happens when I’m not around, Yangyang has let himself go and you? When was the last time you had a bath?”

“We’re on break!” Hendery whines and Ten internally berates himself for the pout that starts to form on Hendery’s lips. “And Kun- _ ge _ said we could do whatever we wanted today.”

“And they say Kun’s the responsible one,” Ten tuts, shaking his head disapprovingly even as a smile tugs at his lips. 

“Hey! I  _ am _ the responsible one!” Kun yells from somewhere off-camera and Ten laughs at the offence that colours Kun’s voice. Oh, he’s missed them all so much — if he closes his eyes he can almost imagine that he’s right there with them. Yangyang and Hendery beside him on the bed, bickering around him as Kun watches from the bed opposite. But he isn’t, he still has another week before he can make that a reality and the realisation of it sobers him up a little. 

“I miss you guys, you know?” Ten says without thinking and he catches the shocked looks on Hendery and Yangyang’s faces before the phone is once again commandeered by someone. 

“Are you getting soft on us now, Ten- _ ge _ ?” Sicheng’s face beams back at him through the screen, and Ten nearly books a flight back then and there. Sicheng, the only member who still insists on addressing him as  _ ge _ despite his insistence that he doesn’t need to, but who will also do anything else for him without question. 

“Miss you Winwinie,” is his reply and Sicheng groans, tossing the phone at someone else. 

“You take him,” he hears Sicheng say. “I think America has made him all weird.” Ten already has a comeback on his lips when he hears Sicheng yell from beyond the screen, “I miss you two, Ten-ge!”

“I don’t,” Xiaojun says as he adjusts the phone so that he’s the right way up, a shit-eating grin lighting up his features. “I’m definitely the main vocal when you’re not around.”

“Please,” Ten scoffs but he knows his grin mirror’s Xiaojun’s and that neither of their words carries any real heat. “Have you been keeping my guitar tuned for me?” 

At his words, Xiaojun pales a little and Ten can hear the room around him grow quiet. 

“What is it? What did you do to my girl?” Ten’s eyes narrow as Xiaojun’s expression grows even more sheepish. “Xiao De Jun!”

Xiaojun flinches and looks away, but Ten is patient when it comes to his guitar so he waits. When Xiaojun decides he’s ready a whole minute has passed but Ten doesn’t mind, not really, as long as he gets an answer. Besides, he knows he misses them too much in the moment to really get mad. But of course, Xiaojun doesn’t know that and Ten almost wants to tell him not to worry. Almost. 

“I snapped a string. I’m sorry! I know they were new and expensive but the guitar was out of tune and I-,” 

“Relax, Jun,” Ten says, taking pity on the poor boy who looks like he’s about to hyperventilate. Ten sighs when he hears sniggering in the background that he  _ knows _ is Yangyang but smiles at Xiaojun. “It’s just some strings, I can always buy new ones.”

“You’re not mad?” Xiaojun’s voice is small when he asks and Ten wishes he could give the boy a hug right there. 

“No, I’m not. Don’t worry about it,” Ten offers him a smile. “Now get everyone on screen, I wanna see all of you.”

Xiaojun nods an affirmative before twisting around so that the rest of the room is in view behind him. Ten sees Yangyang and Hendery in the corner of the bed their on, heads bent together as they whisper conspiratorially, Sicheng has tucked himself (god only knows how) onto the tiny desk chair, and Kun is on the bed across from Yangyang and Hendery, a book in hand and glasses perched carefully on the bridge of his nose even though the book is now closed and he’s gazing back at the screen. 

Ten takes a moment to commit the image to memory, of the boys who’ve long since stopped being just members, having carved out their own special place in his heart right alongside that of his actual family. His heart aches still but it is full, and he knows it’s only a week till he gets to see them again so he tells him that it will be okay. Outwardly he says, “I love you all, so much. You know that right?”

“Of course we do,” Yangyang answers, eyes focused on the phone now, and because it is Yangyang — who Ten likes to think of as his problem (read: favourite) child — who says it, Ten finds himself helpless against the tears that finally fall. 

“Don’t miss me too much,” he manages, forcing a watery smile on his face.

“You know we won’t,” comes Hendery’s answer but he’s already wiping tears from his own eyes and Ten’s tears spill even more. 

Eventually, it is Sicheng who takes pity on them all and stalks forward to grab the phone from Xiaojun.

“Get some sleep, Ten-ge, and be safe. We love you too, you know.” Sicheng isn’t crying but Ten can see the way his eyes glisten.

“Are you getting soft on me now, Winwinie?” Ten chokes out and Sicheng laughs, a tear just slipping free. 

“Never.”

Sicheng waves at him one last time before handing the phone back to Kun, thankfully, isn’t crying. Kun holds the phone to his chest but Ten can tell that he’s gotten off the bed and is probably on his way back to his own room. The covering of the camera, Ten knows, is Kun’s way of giving him space and time to collect himself and Ten is grateful. 

When Kun finally turns the camera back to his face, he’s back in his own room and Ten’s calmed down enough to hold the tears at bay. Even then, it’s a struggle when Kun speaks, his voice washing over Ten in a way that makes it feel like someone’s put his heart under a compressor. 

“You okay, _baobei_?” 

Ten nods, not trusting himself to speak still. 

“Hang in there, okay? You’ll be home soon.”  _ Home _ . The impact of the word hits him something fierce because it is home for him. When he’s with Kun, when he’s with the boys — regardless of whether they’re in Korea or China — he knows now.  _ They _ are his home and, in the same way they made their way into his heart, he’s carved his own place in each and every one of them too. So he nods his reply, the smile curving on his face spilling over into his heart because finally, after all these years, he has a place he can return to.

——————

**Qian-bae♡:** I’m surprised you let Xiaojun off so easily though. I know how much those strings cost you.

 **Baobei~:** Oh I didn’t. Check Instagram :]

 **Qian-bae♡:** You’re an asshole

 **Baobei~:** But you love me anyway

 **Qian-bae♡:** I really do… 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> ahhh thank you for reading ♡ i really was in my feels and wrote this in one go so thank you to [crinkledpages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crinkledpages) for beta this for me like super quick and [junonu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/junonu) for yelling to me about this. I love you both ♡
> 
> Find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/moonfleur_) or [curious cat](http://curiouscat.me/moonfleur_) ♥︎


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